Accutane brain fog: can it last after stopping?

Some people say brain fog, a poor memory and trouble concentrating began while they took isotretinoin (Accutane, or Roaccutane in the UK) and continued after stopping. They count it as part of post-Accutane syndrome, or PAS, but no study we found looked beyond two months after a course.

PAS is more than sexual problems. The authors of 2022 diagnostic criteria say the name often covers problems with thinking, and suicidality, with no sexual symptoms at all. The UK leaflet doesn’t mention memory or concentration, so many people never connect the fog to an acne medicine.

Elliot was 17 when a hospital dermatologist prescribed Roaccutane for his severe acne. Through his twenties, he says, he was “always tired, foggy, disconnected”.

Play video: Elliot on his twenties after Roaccutane

He remembers those years as “panicked, disrupted, dizzy, confused”. He was working all the time, he says, “not really stopping to look back”. When he was filmed, about 13 years had passed since his course.

What does Accutane brain fog feel like?

People describe a fog, lost words and trouble focusing. Stefan took Accutane at 15, and Moral Medicine says he has lived with PAS for almost 19 years. He says he forgets “simple words that I know”. He struggles to concentrate at work, and sometimes worries he has early dementia.

Matthew took Accutane at 15 too. During the course, he says, he developed trouble focusing at school, and his grades dropped. Watch the short clip below to hear how quietly it crept in: he put it down to his lifestyle and went to bed earlier.

Play video: Matthew on trouble focusing during Accutane

A comment sent to the UK medicines regulator’s 2023 review describes the same slide. One person wrote that depression had stuck and took them from a “B onwards student” to “barely being able to focus, concentrate on my studies”.

Does the Accutane leaflet mention memory problems?

No. As of October 2026, the UK leaflet lists depression, anxiety and mood changes, and drowsiness very rarely. It says nothing about memory, concentration or brain fog.

The US Medication Guide comes closest. Among the signs of depression or psychosis to tell a healthcare provider about “right away”, it lists “have trouble concentrating”.

Neither document says whether these problems can last.

The UK leaflet does say isotretinoin’s side effects are “generally reversible”, but that “some may continue after treatment has stopped”. It also warns that for mental health problems, stopping “may not be enough to stop the effects”. Our article on depression after stopping Accutane covers that warning.

Has anyone studied Accutane and memory?

Yes, but only around the course. Three small studies tested memory, attention and planning before and during treatment, and one retested people two months after. None found a decline, and some scores improved. One team says practice at the tests may explain part of that.

In one UK study from Aberdeen, 17 people with severe acne did memory tasks before and during their course, and nearly all did them again two months after it. Their scores stayed the same or got better.

Animal work points the other way. In a 2004 study in mice, a dose like the human one cut the growth of new cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain used for memory, and the mice learnt a maze less well.

A French study of side-effect reports found isotretinoin among the medicines linked with reports of memory loss more often than expected. The authors say links like this need further studies to confirm them.

We searched PubMed on 21 October 2026 and found no study that tested cognition later than two months after the last capsule. We found none that tested people who say their fog never lifted.

The 2022 criteria list cognitive impairment among the lasting effects of isotretinoin, with or without sexual problems. What does PAS feel like? puts the cognitive symptoms beside the others.

What has been studied

During the course

A few small studiesMemory and attention tested; no decline found.

Two months after

The studies endOne small study retested people; no decline found.

Months or years later

No study yetOnly people's own accounts.

What can I do?

These medicines help many people. If you have side effects, that’s a decision for you and your prescriber. The UK leaflet says to “contact your doctor straight away” if you get signs of mental problems, such as a sad or altered mood.

Write your symptoms down before an appointment, in plain words: “Isotretinoin 40 mg a day from March 2022, last capsule September 2022. Since then I lose words mid-sentence and can’t follow a meeting. None of this before 2022.”

Many people say it took time to be taken seriously. Bring the leaflet line: “some may continue after treatment has stopped”. You can report it without a doctor agreeing.

Report it: it helps everyone

A doctor’s note helps you. A report to the medicines regulator helps everyone else: it is how patterns get noticed.

• No proof needed. A suspicion is enough, even years after stopping.
• Where: the Yellow Card scheme in the UK, MedWatch in the US.
• Use the right words. PAS has no term of its own in the regulators’ dictionary (MedDRA) yet, so name each symptom, such as memory loss or poor concentration, and say it continued after stopping.

Our reporting guide walks you through it

What else do people ask?

Could it be depression? It can play a part. Trouble concentrating is a common sign of depression, which is why the US guide lists it there. Matthew says his doctor put his trouble focusing down to depression, though he never developed depression himself. Tell your doctor about both, and when each began.

Is it the drug still in my system? Not months later. The UK prescribing information says isotretinoin is completely gone from the body within a month of the last capsule. How long Accutane stays in your system explains the timing.

Does Accutane brain fog go away? For some people it does. Matthew says his focus came back after he stopped: “I don’t have any problems focusing.” Stefan and Elliot describe fog that has lasted many years. Nobody knows yet who will be affected, or whether it will ease. Does post-Accutane syndrome go away? has more, and so does our page on post-Accutane syndrome.

Elliot worked through years of fog before he looked back. If your cognition changed during or after your course, report it: nobody has counted these cases yet.

Sources

1. Roaccutane 10 mg soft capsules (isotretinoin), patient leaflet, Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC 100633), last revised April 2026. Section 4: side effects “generally reversible after changing the dose or stopping treatment, however some may continue after treatment has stopped”. Mental problems: depression, anxiety, altered mood; “That may not be enough to stop the effects”. Drowsiness and dizziness “reported very rarely”. As of October 2026 the leaflet does not mention memory, concentration or brain fog.
2. Roaccutane 10 mg soft capsules, summary of product characteristics, EMC 100633, last updated on the EMC 5 May 2026. Section 4.4, psychiatric disorders (“Discontinuation of isotretinoin may be insufficient to alleviate symptoms”); section 4.8, drowsiness and dizziness; isotretinoin completely eliminated within one month of stopping.
3. Absorica and Absorica LD (isotretinoin), US prescribing information and Medication Guide, revised August 2026, DailyMed. Medication Guide: “Stop taking ABSORICA or ABSORICA LD and tell your healthcare provider right away if you or a family member notices that you get any of the following signs and symptoms of depression or psychosis”, a list that includes “have trouble concentrating”. It does not mention memory.
4. Ormerod AD, Thind CK, Rice SA and colleagues. Influence of isotretinoin on hippocampal-based learning in human subjects. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2012;221(4):667-74. Open prospective study, 17 patients (14 men, 3 women), visuospatial memory tasks immediately before treatment, at 3 months during it and 2 months after stopping (full text, PMC3360864); 16 completed all three visits; performance unchanged or improved, no significant decline at any visit. No later follow-up.
5. Ergun T, Seckin D, Ozaydin N and colleagues. Isotretinoin has no negative effect on attention, executive function and mood. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2012;26(4):431-9. 63 patients enrolled, 48 evaluated at the end of treatment; no detrimental effect found; the authors note improvement may reflect the learning effect of repeated testing.
6. Botsali A, Kocyigit P, Uran P. The effects of isotretinoin on affective and cognitive functions are disparate in adolescent acne vulgaris patients. J Dermatolog Treat 2020;31(7):734-8. 38 adolescents on isotretinoin, 17 on an antibiotic, tested before and every 3 months during treatment; neurocognitive scores improved in the isotretinoin group.
7. Crandall J, Sakai Y, Zhang J and colleagues. 13-cis-retinoic acid suppresses hippocampal cell division and hippocampal-dependent learning in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004;101(14):5111-6. Mice given 1 mg/kg a day. A study in mice; it does not show the same happens in people.
8. Chavant F, Favrelière S, Lafay-Chebassier C and colleagues. Memory disorders associated with consumption of drugs: updating through a case/noncase study in the French PharmacoVigilance Database. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2011;72(6):898-904. Reports from 2000 to 2009; isotretinoin among the medicines significantly associated with reports of memory loss; the authors say the method can generate signals that need further prospective studies to confirm them. Voluntary reports show what people describe, not how often it happens.
9. Healy D, Bahrick A, Bak M and colleagues. Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin. Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33(1):65-76. Isotretinoin effects that “can occur independently of any sexual difficulties but may also accompany sexual problems” include cognitive impairment. The term PAS “equally often appears to include suicidality and other cognitive effects without sexual difficulties”. “The incidence of these conditions is unknown.”
10. Commission on Human Medicines, Report of the Isotretinoin Expert Working Group, 26 April 2023, published by the MHRA. Section 4.2.5.1 quotes a comment received through the call for information: “going from B onwards student to barely being able to focus, concentrate on my studies”. Section 3.2.1 on retinoic acid and the adult brain.
11. Moral Medicine, He Took Accutane at 17. His Life Never Returned to Normal., interview with Elliot, 28 January 2025. Embedded here as an extract from 1:12:36 to 1:13:54: “always tired, foggy, disconnected” at 1:12:53 and “panicked, disrupted, dizzy, confused” at 1:13:37. Thirteen years since stopping at 1:11:20; “not really stopping to look back” at 1:13:44. His story on our site: Elliot’s story: Accutane at 17.
12. Moral Medicine, interview with Stefan, 11 December 2024, cited without a link. Cognitive issues, forgetting “simple words that I know”, worry about early dementia and struggling to concentrate at work from 14:08 to 14:28. “Almost 19 years” with PAS is from his story page on our site: Stefan’s story: Accutane at 15.
13. Josef Witt-Doerring (Dr. Josef), He Took Accutane at 15. Now He’s Living with the Damage, interview with Matthew, 18 July 2025. Embedded here as an extract from 4:41 to 5:22: trouble focusing at school and grades dropping at 5:15. Earlier bedtimes at 5:54. “I don’t have any problems focusing” after stopping at 10:57; “cognitively I feel fine” at 25:11. His own doctor put his trouble focusing down to depression at about 12:45; “I didn’t develop depression” at 4:53. Quotes are from YouTube’s automatic captions.